Avionics: Beaming Bits & Bytes

FAA and several contractors
in March will begin testing a prototype communications scheme that theoretically could save millions of dollars per year for airlines and possibly give them some extra revenue to boot. The concept, called Aerosat Airborne Internet, calls for using the thousands of en route aircraft in the skies at any moment to create a communications "mesh" that proponents say could increase bandwidth dramatically and reduce the cost of existing communications pipes.

FAA and several contractors
in March will begin testing a prototype communications scheme that theoretically could save millions of dollars per year for airlines and possibly give them some extra revenue to boot. The concept, called Aerosat Airborne Internet, calls for using the thousands of en route aircraft in the skies at any moment to create a communications "mesh" that proponents say could increase bandwidth dramatically and reduce the cost of existing communications pipes.
Though ...

The US majors will not give up on their campaign against the Gulf carriers, which present the biggest-ever threat to the future of US airlines, the CEO of United Airlines said in a speech in New York Thursday....More

Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) president Tim Canoll said the wider public has to be educated about the threat laser pointers pose to aircraft and help law enforcement catch people shining lasers into cockpits....More

US airlines, particularly regional carriers, have expressed hope that strict pilot training requirements implemented by FAA in 2013 will be eased in FAA reauthorization legislation expected to be taken up by Congress later this year, but there will likely be a strong push back against any efforts to change the rules....More